So many mysteries when it comes to AMC’s The Walking Dead. How did the zombie apocalypse begin? Why is everyone infected? Are there any safe areas left? Also, how is it that crossbow-wielding badass Daryl Dixon never manages to run out of arrows? We went straight to the source for answers and asked the man who plays Dixon, Norman Reedus, for an explanation.

“I try to recycle the arrows as much as possible,” says Reedus in the video interview below while taking a break from his Entertainment Weekly cover shoot (you can buy all three collector covers right here!). He’s got a point there as you often do see Daryl pull an arrow out of the skull of a walker he’s just put down. But still, with that few arrows at his disposal, and considering all the times he isn’t able to reuse one, it would seem he would have run out by now, right? “They go on runs and we raid places and this is Georgia so that is one of the weapons that people hunt with,” says Reedus. “So it’s not unheard of to find more arrows.” Reedus also assumes there is off-screen replenishment going on. “When you show this large of a time frame, there’s a lot of things that are sort of understood. You never see us go to the bathroom, but we do that.”

Reedus also spoke eloquently about the evolution of his character and how his on-screen brother Merle’s death has changed Daryl. As Reedus explains, with Merle gone, “Daryl has the opportunity to become the man he was never going to be.” To hear more from the man on all things Daryl Dixon, click on the video player below. Also make sure to watch our exclusive Facebook video with the star. And for additional intel on season 4 of The Walking Dead (which begins Oct. 13), check out the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands now.